The present disclosure relates to optical communications over an optical network.
As voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol television (IPTV) grow in popularity, an increasing number of users desire to have access to these services from their premises. Similarly, businesses now require more bandwidth available to their premises with necessary quality of service. To meet these needs, network carriers are building optical access networks with different network topologies such as fiber-to-the-premises, fiber-to-the-node, or fiber-to-the-building with many different access transport solutions including BPON, EPON, GPON, WDN-PON and active Ethernet.
As service provides' networks are becoming more complex, different technology solutions and a wide variety of equipments at customer premises have made inventory and operational expenditure (OPEX) key challenges for service providers across the globe. There is therefore a need to enhance system and management functions and to simplify operational complexity in access network. There is also a need to maintain or improve ease of use for the operators even as the complexity and integration increase in the optical networks.